Sydney Water selects Wipro led consortium for ERP, CRM overhaul

CapGemini and Ernst & Young part of group implementing ‘once in a generation’ SAP project.

Having considered more mature versions of SAP, the utility chose the "reasonably progressive" SAP S/4HANA and utilities targeted SAP IS-U.

"If you're deploying an old version of SAP you don't get the best resources, you don't attention, you can't attract the kind of talent that you want. And not long after you deploy you're then looking down the barrel of an upgrade path," Hunt said.

"We thought, if we can satisfy ourselves around the risk profile, and we can get the right backing from SAP and we can select the right partner then we felt that the right way forward was to be reasonably progressive in our selection. Not bleeding edge, but on the progressive edge."

Work will begin with the CRM and billing engine alongside smaller back office projects, Hunt explained. As a statutory State Owned Corporation, Sydney Water will leverage on the GovDC marketplace.

Hunt said lessons had been learned from the utility's disastrous Customer Information Billing System implementation in 2003.

The project suffered lengthy delays, and a budget blow-out of nearly $100 million which led to a costly legal battle between Sydney Water and PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.

"As a business, we have learned the lessons from our failed attempt at implementing a CRM in 2003. I believe we have a robust governance framework in place and are recruiting the best talent to ensure these implementations are a success," Hunt said.

"We are delighted to partner with Sydney Water and this is very strategic engagement for us. Wipro has strong domain expertise in Water Utilities and we will draw upon global insights for Sydney Water to drive efficiencies and superior customer experience," said Arun Krishnamurthi, Wipro global head of utilities.